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It's Time to Introduce Your Sweet Tooth to This Irresistible Churro Cake

Sorry for the all caps, but I mean . . . CHURRO CAKE. This is serious
business. Leslie and Courtney, the ladies behind the epic pop-up
restaurant Large Marge are Momofuku Milk alums, so they do NOT play when
it comes to cake. Also, after I harassed them for months, they've
generously agreed to share their cake recipe with all of us. Leslie came
on my YouTube channel, so if you want to see the whole process, check out the video there.

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Here's the thing: this is a pastry-chef-style cake, meaning there are
components and details that a home baker wouldn't usually bother with.
So if you want to do this fast and dirty, skip the churro crunchies and
maybe even the decorative churros on top . . . but it just adds another
dimension to the whole thing, so if you can, do it for real. MAKE A
CHURRO CAKE.

Another tip Leslie told me was that this cake is perfect to prep
ahead of time. So if you want to serve this cake on Saturday, you could
easily start your prep on Wednesday, so all you have to do is assemble
it the day of. The pralinella and frosting last for a few days in the
fridge, the cinnamon sugar lasts forever, and even the churros and cake
can be frozen (though the churros benefit from a quick resuscitation in
the oven).

This cake is truly magical. It makes people happy, it captures the
imagination, and it tastes amazing. Thank you so much, Large Marge
ladies, for bringing it into our world. Enjoy!

Directions

Cinnamon Brown Butter Cakes

Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and grease and line 3 6-inch cake pans.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk them all together.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the brown
butter with both sugars until it is light and fluffy. Slowly stream in
the eggs, yolks, oil, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until the wet
ingredients have fully emulsified, stopping to scrape down sides from
time to time.

Add the milk and dry ingredients alternately, beginning and ending
with the dry ingredients, scraping down sides between each addition. Mix
on low until the final dry ingredient addition is fully incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake them for
20-25 minutes or until they just start to get golden brown around the
edges.

Remove the cakes from their pans and let them cool completely before
them using to assemble the CHURRO CAAAAAAAAKE. Alternately — store the
cakes in the freezer, well wrapped for up to a month until ready to
use.

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Pralinella

Transfer to the prepped baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes.
Halfway through the baking process, pull out the sheet and stir
everything around. You’re looking for the nuts to turn dark without
being burnt. The darker the nut, the better the flavor: mahogany is the
color you want.

Remove the nuts from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes, then
grind them in a food processor until they break down into butter — this
takes several minutes. You should have about 1 cup of praline butter.
Put this amount in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Combine 1 cup of white chocolate with the remaining ingredients
(including 1 teaspoon salt) — except the heavy cream — in a small
saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a
heatproof spatula. Once the chocolate melts, turn the heat up to medium
and continue to cook, stirring constantly, to caramelize the white
chocolate. Once the mixture becomes a shade darker than shiro miso,
remove it from the heat and slowly whisk in the heavy cream and unmelted
white chocolate. If it seizes or doesn’t fully homogenize, then put it
back on the stove top and heat it on low, whisking constantly.

While the chocolate mixture is still warm, marry it with the pecan
butter and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight.

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Mexican Chocolate Frosting

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on
high speed until it’s light, fluffy, and totally smooth with no lumps.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl several times during this process and
quadruple check there aren’t any lumps of butter before you move on to
the next step. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix on low until
combined and all the powdered sugar is incorporated into the frosting.
Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and mix until combined. Scrape down
sides and give the frosting another go-round in the mixer on medium
speed. Stream in both of the melted chocolates with the mixer on low and
continue mixing until they are both fully combined and no streaks
remain.

Use the frosting immediately to assemble the churro cake, or store
in the refrigerator for up to a week (or one month in the freezer). If
storing, return the frosting to room temperature and loosen it in the
stand mixer before using.

Churro Snaps

Add the milk, butter, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt to a
medium saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the
flour and stir it vigorously without stopping with a sturdy wooden spoon
for 1 minute to cook the flour. (The batter will be really thick and
you’ll use some muscles stirring it.)

Transfer the mixture to stand mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment and let it cool for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer on medium speed
and add the eggs one at a time. Let each egg fully incorporate before
adding the next one.

Meanwhile, pour 4 cups of oil into a 1 1/2 quart saucepan and heat it to 350ºF

Transfer the batter to a piping bag with a star tip (we like using a
medium closed tip) and pipe the batter into the oil, cutting it with
scissors every 2 inches so perfect churros drop into the oil. Fry the
batter in batches of six churros until they are deep golden brown.

[post_ads_2]Use a slotted spoon to remove the churros from the oil and put them
onto a paper-towel-lined pan. Let them cool for a minute, then toss
them into the bowl with the cinnamon sugar and coat them.

You are going to use some of these churros to decorate the finished
cake and the rest to make the churro crunchies that go inside the cake.
To do this, take some of the churros and break them up in to pieces
about the size of grapes. You will need 2 cups worth of broken up churro
bits. Set the remaining churros aside to decorate the cake.

In a medium bowl, toss the broken up churros with 1/3 cup of the
cinnamon sugar mixture, reserving the leftover mixture to coat the sides
of the assembled cake.

Spread the churro bits onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake
for 25 minutes, until they are crunchy, deep golden brown, and
caramelized. Let the snaps cool completely before using them to assemble
the churro cake.

Cake Assembly

Lightly coat every layer of brown butter cake with the cinnamon
sugar. Place the bottom layer on a plate, and spread a generous layer of
pralinella (about 1/2-inch thick) over it. Sprinkle with half of the
churro crunchies, and lightly press the crunchies down into the
pralinella.

Next, spread a thick layer of the Mexican chocolate frosting over
the crunchies, and add another layer of cake. Repeat until you're left
with the top layer. Top with Mexican chocolate frosting and freshly
fried churro toppers. Enjoy!